


Love Drunk

by fayara



Category: Marvel
Genre: Fake/Pretend Relationship, M/M, SteveTonyFest, this is basically a tiny bit of pining and so much fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-13
Updated: 2014-12-13
Packaged: 2018-03-01 08:22:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2766218
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fayara/pseuds/fayara
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tony gets hit with a magical spell that makes him act drunk. What follows is not quite what Steve imagined.</p>
<p>*</p>
<p>“This is ridiculous,” Steve said, hand coming up to tug at his collar before thinking better of it, and letting it fall by his side again. </p>
<p>Tony looks at Steve from his side, tilts his head in Steve’s direction. “Oh come on,” Tony says, tone amused but eyes tight. “You should be enjoying this. After all, it’s a party for your relationship.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	Love Drunk

**Author's Note:**

  * For [shinkonokokoro](https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinkonokokoro/gifts).



“This is ridiculous,” Steve said, hand coming up to tug at his collar before thinking better of it, and letting it fall by his side again. 

Tony looks at Steve from his side, tilts his head in Steve’s direction. “Oh come on,” Tony says, tone amused but eyes tight. “You should be enjoying this. After all, it’s a party for your relationship.” 

 

* 

It had been an accident. 

*

The Avengers had been out on what should’ve been a simple mission, some sorcerer-or-other stirring up trouble in Manhattan. Wherever the guy went, he left a wake of half-mad people, clutching at each in some sort of frenzy. He didn’t seem to be causing a lot of damage to the actual civilians; their madness was merely a byproduct of his presence. Instead, he had focused on robbing three banks in the span of an hour, simply by using his “enchanting” powers to slip by all security. (“Yeah, that’s enchanting alright”, Tony had sniggered upon seeing the news feed of people swaying merrily in the street, speaking loudly and falling into one another). 

Somehow, or rather, someone, had managed to alert the police, and so the message got through to the Avengers. 

“Don’t get too close to him!” Steve yelled into the comm. “He’s got some ability to mess with people’s heads.” 

Clint smirked. “I don’t think it’s just their hea—OW, Nat!”

“Natasha, can you go round up the civilians from the bank?” Steve said, cutting through their bickering. “Clint, first and foremost we need to secure the stolen money. Then we’ll tackle the guy himself.”

“Got it,” Natasha confirmed in his ear. 

Steve watched as an arrow flew from the sky, striking the guy’s hand. It got him to drop his bag filled with money, but on the whole the injury didn’t seem to phase him too much. He pulled the arrow out and waved a glowing purple hand over the wound, making it close. 

“He’s also got accelerated healing,” Steve said, annoyance lacing his tone. “We’ve just got to hit him hard enough to stop him from using his abilities.” 

“Cap.” Natasha’s voice came through the comm, hard and straight to the point. “I’m over at the most recent bank he hit. Everyone here is either drunk, or coming out of a bad hangover.” 

Clint snorted. “What, do we have a mock Dionysus wandering around?”

“Perfect, he’s just my kind of guy. Hey, you think he’d let us hire him for a party? It’d give him a job and everything, no bank robbery required.” Even with his voice modulated by the faceplate, it was easy to hear the grin in Tony’s voice. 

“Careful Stark,” Steve warned. “We need everyone to be clear headed here.” 

“Relax,” Tony said, firing off a repulsor blast at the sorcerer. The guy deflected it with a blast of purple, before returning fire. Tony neatly dodged it, the Iron Man suit glinting in the sunlight. “What’s the plan, Cap?” 

“Like I said, a solid hit should be enough to stun him, at least long enough for us to properly subdue him.” 

For a guy being targeted by three, very well known, superheroes he didn’t seem to be all that worried. 

“Whoa,” Clint started, and Cap didn’t have to look very far to see the reason for it - emerging from behind their cars, NYPD officers had their guns out, and were approaching the man. 

“That’s not going to slow him down,” Tony muttered, and by the end of that sentence, a blast of purple had been unleashed and the officers were no longer upright. Any officer within three feet immediately began stumbling around, giddy smiles on their faces. 

Clint made a frustrated noise. “Yeah, no, not gonna get a good shot on him from where I’m at. Can’t tell where’s he’s heading toward either. My money’s on a getaway car somewhere.”

Steve looked around, noting a low rooftop nearby that would give him the perfect angle to take out the guy. 

“Iron Man, can I get a lift?” he asked, gesturing. 

“Sure thing, Cap,” Tony said. Steve cocked an eyebrow at Tony, noting the excessive amount of glee in his voice. 

“Tony—“ he warned. 

Suddenly Tony came swooping down, knocking Steve’s legs out from underneath him, and carrying him bridal-style before dropping him down. 

Steve very determinedly did not make an undignified sound, but he did grunt upon landing. 

“Cute,” Steve said curtly. 

Tony looped around to face Steve, hovering in the air. “Aw come on, I think you make a fetching---“ His remark was cut off as suddenly the suit was illuminated in a sphere of purple. 

“Tony!” Steve cried out, stretching a hand forward instinctively before snapping it back. 

In a moment the light was gone, and the suit collapsed onto the roof, for all the world like a lifeless doll. 

“Damn, what happened?” Clint’s voice was urgent in his ear. 

“Tony’s hit, I don’t know how much of it got to him through the suit,” Steve grit out, rushing towards the figure. He flipped the suit over and ripped off the faceplate, pressing two fingers to Tony’s pulse point, heart hammering in his chest. When he felt a steady beat thudding under his fingers he sighed in relief, though Tony’s eyes remained closed. 

Steve stood up rapidly, pressing a finger to his ear. “He’s fine. Knocked out, but fine. Clint, I lost sight of our guy, do you—“ he stopped just as he caught sight of a familiar face disappearing around a corner. In an instant the shield was out and slicing through the air, angling off a building wall to hit its target dead on. Steve saw him crumple, and a moment later a figure in black and purple landed on an adjacent rooftop. Clint fired an arrow down and Steve watched as the tip blew off in midair, a net coming out to cover the still body. 

“Got him in the head Cap, he’s out cold. Doesn’t look like he’s bleeding too much though, so can’t be too serious. Nat, can you come help me out with this guy?” 

“On my way.” 

Steve tuned out anything else the two might have been saying as he heard groaning from behind him. He turned to see Tony sitting up, removing his entire helmet. He looked up at Steve, wide eyes blinking slowly. 

“Did you know you have a beautiful face?”

Steve blinked. When it seemed like Tony wasn’t going to elaborate, Steve’s mouth dropped open. “I… what?” was all Steve could manage in response. 

“Your face, it’s got this kind of…beauty.” Steve eyed the unsteady hand Tony waved towards him. “I mean, there’s the blue eyes and the ridiculously tight shirts you wear that hide nothing and all of that, of course. But your face overall is just nice to look at. I’m sure it’s the symmetry you have going on; scientifically it’s proven that we find more symmetrical faces attractive, and not that you need the symmetry to be attractive, because again, wow, but –“

“Tony, Tony.” Steve repeated, kneeling on the ground next to him, nearly placing a finger on his lips just to get the other man to stop talking. He recognizes the slight slur in Tony’s voice (he’s heard it one too many times), the way his eyes unfocus before refocusing again (he’s gotten that look before), the distracted ramble that comes with one too many glasses of a drink (he’d say he hates the way his breath always smells, but right now there’s just a faint scent of charred ash in the air). Steve would be alarmed by the burnt smell, but after experiences with Loki and other beings of magic, he’s learned it just comes with the trade. 

Tony has stopped talking, but is now staring at Steve with a certain kind of intensity that’s a bit unsettling. “Did the serum enhance everything? Like how can your eyes be that blue?” 

“Yep, ok, we’re taking you back to Stark Towers until we figure this out.” Steve put an arm around Tony’s waist, hauling him up so that Tony was standing – or rather, swaying -- with one arm draped across Cap’s shoulders. 

Steve put a finger to the comm again. “Clint, can you get the helicarrier to come pick us up? I can’t safely jump down from the rooftop without possibly injuring Tony, and he’s… not exactly in a state to get us off.” 

Tony grinned, leaning his face in close to Steve’s. “’M always in a good place to get you off, Cap. I can show you just how good if—“ Steve abruptly threw a hand over Tony’s mouth, his face flushing. 

“Is he drunk?” came Clint’s voice in his ear, not even bothering to suppress a laugh. 

Steve’s mouth was set in a firm line. “Or something close to it.”

“Steve,” Tony said, looking at him seriously, eyes wide. He poked Steve in the shoulder with the hand still draped across his back. “Steve, I need a cheeseburger.”

“What you need is for us to get you somewhere safe until SHIELD can determine if this is temporary or not.”

“I think that sounds like a horrible idea. SHIELD doesn’t ever know what they’re doing, and a cheeseburger is much more of a priority than letting Fury jab me with things.” 

In the end, by the time the helicarrier had gotten to them, Steve had relented to let Tony get a cheeseburger on the condition that they would leave right after, and let SHIELD’s medical team take a look at him. He should’ve known it wouldn’t be that simple. 

They waited inside the burger joint for Tony’s order, Steve’s foot tapping impatiently. The longer it went, the more Tony became nonsensical. Every so often when he was talking, Steve would see a flash of purple in his eyes. 

When he finally had the burger he immediately plopped down in a nearby table, closing his eyes in delight when he bit into it. Steve wanted to protest that they should take it to go, but figured at this point he was done resisting. At least Tony had promised to be examined. 

“This might be the best thing to ever happen to me,” Tony said in between bites, mouth full of burger. Steve hummed noncommittally. 

“Seriously I think I’m in love with this burger.” Suddenly he stopped, staring at the sandwich in his hands before slowly lowering it to the plate. 

“Steve,” he said, his voice urgent. He was doing that unsettling ‘stare into your soul’ look again. “I think I’m in love with you.” 

Steve almost started choking on air. As it was, his face flushed a brilliant red and he stammered on words. 

“Mmm,” Tony sighed affectionately. “See, even blushing looks good on you. Really accents that pale skin.” Steve turned a deeper shade of crimson as Tony’s eyes wandered down from his face to travel across his chest, only stopping where the table shielded the rest of Steve from view. 

“Time to leave,” he said, getting up and moving to tug Tony to standing. The half-eaten burger remained on the plate, forgotten. Tony had gotten up willingly, now gripping onto Steve, one hand on his forearm, the other on his hip. 

“Beautiful,” he murmured, before surging up to make his lips meet Steve’s. Steve made a surprised noise that was muffled into Tony’s insistent mouth. For a moment, it was all he could do to close his eyes, to lean into the kiss a little bit, to tighten his grip on Tony’s arm. He was about to part his lips, to revel in the warmth that was Tony pressing up against him, when a the sound of a camera shutter going off jolted him to realization. 

He jerked back from Tony abruptly, so quickly that Tony stumbled forward, requiring Steve to put a hand on his waist just to steady him. Steve whipped his head around, looking at the shocked patrons of the burger joint, more than a few of whom had cell phones in their hands, clearly having taken pictures of two of the world’s most famous superheroes kissing. 

“And now it’s definitely time to leave,” Steve muttered, half dragging Tony along behind him. He all but ran into the SHIELD car waiting for them, pulling Tony inside with him. 

Tony was blinking, shaking his head back and forth slowly as though trying to dislodge water from his ear. He looked at Steve, a befuddled expression on his face. 

“Was that… was something wrong?” His tone wasn’t worried so much as confused. Steve could see purple sparking through his eyes every couple of seconds. 

Steve let out a long breath he didn’t know he had been holding. “Just… just rest Tony, we’ll be back soon.” 

*

Steve stood outside the room they were examining Tony in, looking at him through the glass. There was a hard set to his jaw and his arms were crossed defensively over his chest. Fury was beside him, giving Steve an impressive glare, but it no longer shook him like it used to. 

“And then you let him kiss you,” Fury said, voice flat. 

“’Let’ isn’t exactly the word I’d use. He—he caught me off guard, is all.”

“Oh is it? That’s all? No problem then about how currently the internet is exploding with pictures of the two of you?” 

Steve grit his teeth. “We’ll figure it out.” He jerked his chin towards Tony, who was currently swatting at medics in annoyance. He certainly seemed to be returning to himself. 

“Have we found out if it’s permanent yet?”

“You better,” Fury muttered, in response to his earlier comment. He eyed Stark through the window as well. “We don’t think so. The other people affected by this guy seemed to shake off the symptoms fairly quickly. Just like the drank way too much the night before.”

“Right, Natasha mentioned something about people with hangovers.” 

Fury nodded. “We have no reason to believe Stark’ll be any different. The effects seemed to be stronger and longer lasting because he was hit directly, but put him to bed and by the next morning he should be back to normal.”

Steve was in the middle of nodding when Fury jabbed a finger in his direction. “And when he is, you two better fix this.” 

Steve bit back his retort, simply letting Fury walk away. He thought back to that instant when all he wanted in the world was to give in, how surprisingly soft Tony’s lips felt on his, how he—no. No, Tony had been acting under the influence of some kind of magic. It wasn’t right of Steve to read into that any more than the circumstances at hand. 

Never mind the fact that over the past year, he had come into incredible regard for Tony. His initial impression of a hotheaded, egotistical, and self-centered man had given way to show a truly amazing person underneath. Steve had seen Tony be endlessly good; not just in big ways like will to risk his life for others, but in the little things. In how he slowly maneuvered all the Avengers into living in the tower, so he could watch over them. In how Clint complained about the shitty quality of his hearing aids, and the next day had woken up to a new pair by his bedside table, no note or anything. In how sometimes Steve would walk into the kitchen at 8am and see a stack of pancakes on a plate, open for anyone, the only sign that Tony was there an oil streak on the side of the counter. 

What Steve had come to learn was that when Tony Stark considered you one of his own, he’d go to the ends of the earth to make you happy, but he didn’t do it for the recognition or the praise. Steve would see the way he seemed to light up a little just when his friends were happy. When Steve had met Tony, he was guarded, bitterness and cynicism escaping his lips and wary eyes tracing people’s movements. Now, there was nothing that filled Steve with warmth more than hearing a genuine laugh escape Tony, or listening to his voice hitch with excitement when he really was into whatever designing project he had at the moment.   
Steve had spent hours in Tony’s lab, watching him work. Watching the way the entire world around him dissolved, save for whatever he was working on. Whether it was schematics or actual building, all of his focus was on the project. He moved through his lab with a sense of fluidity and purpose—sure he wielded the Iron Man suit well, but Steve though Tony had never fit a space better than when he was in his lab. 

It didn’t hurt, of course, that Tony usually liked to work in tight muscle tanks, bare arms exposed. Steve would almost guiltily track the grease stains on his forearms, the hard lines of muscle that gave way to a defined back. And if he thought the best looking thing in the world was Tony, with a sleepy but pleased smile as he finally finished something, pride shining in his eyes – well, Steve would never have to tell. 

But then Tony had gone and gotten hit with magic and kissed Steve, and now he didn’t know what to do. They were going to have to talk about it, of course, and Steve didn’t know how he was going to handle the moment he’d have to laugh with Tony and say of course the kiss was no big deal, of course he knew they were just teammates, just friends. 

*

As it turned out, when Tony awakened he was far from laughing. He spent a few hours groaning, wandering aimlessly around the Tower. 

“Dude, just get some advil and water and stop moaning,” Clint said after Tony had loudly complained about his headache for the 5th time. 

“I can’t, it’s magic, genius. Bruce, you have any ideas how to speed up this recovery?”

Bruce looked up from where he was sitting in an armchair, tablet in his lap. He shook his head remorsefully. “Sadly, no. As far as I can tell, you just have to wait it out.” 

Tony groaned again, letting his head fall against the tabletop. 

A few hours later, he padded into Steve’s room, where Steve was currently sitting on his bed with his sketchpad. Tony knocked softly on the open door, sticking half his body into the room. 

“Hey winghead, you got time to talk?” he was smiling, but Steve could easily read the nervousness in his body. He set the sketchbook on his bedside table and motioned for Tony to come in. 

“So, we should probably talk about the fact that I aggressively kissed you against your will –“ 

“It’s fine, Tony,” Steve cut in. He didn’t want to listen to any apologies Tony would have, it would only make it worse. 

Tony opened his mouth, then closed it, staring at Steve with clouded eyes. Eventually he sat himself on the corner of Steve’s bed, body angled slightly away from him. 

“I wouldn’t exactly say that’s fine, but I suppose we have bigger things to worry about.”

“Like the fact that every major news outline currently has a picture of us on its cover, with some supposedly clever title above it?” 

Tony breathed out hard through his nose. “Yeah, like that.” 

“Look why don’t—“ Steve began. 

“I think we should date,” Tony talked over him. At the look on Steve’s face, he plowed through his next words, said so quickly it was almost like he had rehearsed them. “It’s just—well—I know that you came out as bisexual not too long ago, and there was that whole shitstorm to deal with, and people just started to accept that and now there’s all of this going on, and I think if we were to play it off as nothing people would go back to questioning the legitimacy of your sexuality. And then there’s the fact that no one else this guy was near wanted to ¬kiss anyone, so it’d probably seem weird that I’m the only one who did that. There’s just so many ways the media can take this and spin it and neither one of us really needs to deal with the fallout so I think the best way to take the power back into our hands it to just do this.”

“To date,” Steve said somewhat weakly, though he hoped it just came across as flat and unamused. 

“Not actually!” Tony said, throwing his hands up a little. “Just… just put on a charade for a couple weeks or so, no more than a month and a half tops. Say that we had been keeping it on the down low because we didn’t want the press hounding us, but the adrenaline after a battle and all that… then when things have died down a little, we just stop being seen together. If anyone questions it, we broke up and it was civil and we’re still great teammates and friends it just didn’t work out like that. I might get some backlash about ‘breaking Captain America’s heart’ or something, but it’s nothing I can’t deal with.”

Steve pursed his lips. “And you’re sure this is the best thing to do about it?”

Tony shrugged. “Like I said, it puts the control of the story back in our hands. As long as we just make it casual, it should go away fairly soon. After all,” he said, a half-smile on his face, “there’ve been rumors for months. How shocking can it really be?”  
*

Very, was the answer apparently. Pepper had been calling Tony all day, trying desperately to reach him. When he finally answered, a mere half hour after talking to Steve, she had all sorts of comments to make. 

“And why didn’t you tell me you started dating Steve?”

“We were just testing it out at first Pep, it wasn’t a huge deal—“

“Wasn’t a huge deal?” Her voice went up an octave or two, before snapping back to it’s usual ‘dealing with Tony’s bullshit’ tone. “Is that why you decided to make out with him in public?”

Tony winced a little. “I wouldn’t say make out per se…” 

Steve was only half paying attention as Tony paced around the living room, attempting to calm her down. They talked it out with Fury, and he called them crazy, but also said he couldn’t think of a better solution. They had decided that only the Avengers should know it was fake. Something twisted in Tony’s gut as he lied to Pepper and Rhodey, but it was agreed upon that the less people who knew the truth, the more likely they’d be able to pull this off and not make it a spectacle. 

Steve looked up to watch Tony before staring back down at his hands, his gut churning. Tony looked visibly distressed and Steve? Well everyone could tell something was off. Tony assumed it was because he had dragged them into this whole mess, and that Steve was mad at him, and to some extent that was true. But mostly Steve just wasn’t sure what to do with the emotions roiling in his gut. He couldn’t help but think about how Tony was so good at faking this, at how he’d almost fooled Steve. The other Avengers thought Steve wasn’t playing the part as well because of how mad he was, but in truth he just was afraid of falling into this a bit too well. 

After they had finished talking to Fury, and left SHIELD’s headquarters, there were at least a dozen paparazzi waiting outside. They both had frozen for a moment, before Tony became his natural self, a smile sliding easily onto his face. He slipped a hand into Steve’s, intertwining their fingers, and began tugging them through the sea of reporters. Microphones and cameras were shoved in their faces with questions like “So how long has this really been going on?” and “Tell us about life at home!” and “Does this affect the dynamic of the Avengers?”

Tony had stopped just outside the car, where Happy was waiting. He flashed a look at Steve that, if you didn’t know better, would seem to be filled with affection. Steve took into account the way his mouth was stretched too tight, and how he knew Tony’s most genuine smiles were actually soft, close-lipped ones. Then he turned back to face the reporters. 

“We’re not taking any questions at this time. Just know that the good Captain and I are quite content.” With that he put a hand on Steve’s lower back and gently pushed him towards the car, following close behind. As soon as the doors were closed and they were driving away, Tony not so subtly scooted a few inches away from Steve, taking a deep breath. 

“Sorry about this,” he said, his eyes not quite meeting Steve’s. “Like I said, over in a few weeks.” 

Steve was jerked back to the present when Tony was waving a hand in front of his face. “You there, winghead?” 

Steve shook his head a little. “Yeah, yeah what’s up?”

Tony grimaced. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other restlessly as he spoke. “We’re having a party—Pepper insists. Once she stopped yelling at me for keeping secrets,” he paused, a guilty smile flitting across his face. “Right, well once she got over that, she was ecstatic. She wishes us congratulations on getting our heads out of our asses and doing what everyone else knew was bound to happen. And to celebrate our making it public, she wants to have a party.” 

Steve’s head swam a little bit. First of all, a party made this way more serious than it was supposed to be—what happened to this all blowing over soon? But also Pepper’s comment about it being meant to be… Steve had always considered Pepper so rational and insightful. After all, if anyone knew Tony inside and out and had a way to cut through all the bullshit, it was Pepper. So for her to actually believe this, and even more for her to think it was a good idea… Steve didn’t know what to make of it. 

“Is that really necessary?” he finally asked, voice croaking slightly. 

Tony pulled another face. “Evidently. Sorry, I just couldn’t fight her on this. It was a miracle she didn’t really press further about the relationship itself. She said she’ll figure it all out, we just need to show and be the ‘happy couple we are’.” 

Steve could hear the quotation marks thick in Tony’s voice. He almost sounded bitter about it. Of course. Because Tony would never actually want to date Steve. That would be outrageous. 

He sighed. “As long as I’m not in charge of it, fine.” 

*

As it turned out, he rather wished he had been in charge of it. Or at least, part of the planning. Then maybe he would’ve been able to stop this from becoming the spectacle it was. 

Pepper had rented out an entire ballroom, and invited just about everyone Steve and Tony collectively knew, and he was pretty sure some people they didn’t. Everything was extravagant – the decorations, the food, the band. Steve was overwhelmed. Even Tony thought so. 

“Isn’t this a bit much?” he asked when they arrived, leaning forward to kiss Pepper on the cheek. 

“A bit much? Not for your happiness it isn’t,” she said, smiling brightly. 

Steve was a bit suspicious of just how friendly she was being. Part of him suspected that she knew they’d be uncomfortable with all the attention, and did this to get back at Tony. Though whether she knew the whole thing was a lie, he doubted. 

He and Tony had walked around the room, shaking hands with people and making sure to laugh often and smile wide. Tony’s hands were constantly touching him – a brush of their hands here, a hand on the waist there. Even when he was occupied, he made sure to stand close enough to Steve that he could feel their shared body heat in the nonexistent space between them. It was making Steve sweat. 

Just as Tony was laughing at some poor joke from an investor in Stark Industries, Steve placed a hand on his forearm, and smiled apologizingly at the woman. 

“If you don’t mind, I’m going to borrow my boyfriend for a moment.” The woman just waved them on in good nature, already turning to a fellow guest to gossip. Steve was almost surprised at how fluidly he was able to say the word ‘boyfriend’ in relation to Tony now. 

He put his lips to Tony’s ear, a smile still on his face, but his tone dark. “If I have to shake one more hand or listen to one more person’s congratulations, I’m going to lose it.” 

Tony let out a snort, and patted him on the back. “Nobody says we can’t take a break.” He reached out and snagged two champagne flutes from a passing waiter, giving one to Steve. Then he headed over to a less occupied corner, near some unused tables in the back. Most other people were over on the expansive dance floor, or by the front of the room where the bar was. 

“This is ridiculous,” Steve says, hand coming up to tug at his collar before thinking better of it, and letting it fall by his side again. 

“Oh come on,” Tony says by his side, tone amused but eyes tight. “You should be enjoying this. After all, it’s a party for your relationship.” 

“Yours too,” Steve mutters darkly, finishing off the champagne in one swig. It wouldn’t do anything to him of course – not that champagne is very heavy to begin with – but he appreciates the warm trail of bubbles that trail down to his stomach. It makes him feel a little bit lighter. 

Tony hummed beside him, taking a few small sips. He put the flute down on the table before turning to Steve. 

“I am really sorry about all this. I had no idea how over the top Pepper would be.” 

“It’s fine,” Steve says shortly, because there’s nothing else to say. 

“It’s really not though.” Tony’s trying to do that thing Steve’s noticed where makes everything sound really offhand, which is when he means it most. When he’s nervous or feels vulnerable, that’s when he’s most likely to pretend like he doesn’t care at all. 

“I mean, I’m used to the spotlight and the whirlwhind of relationships, but it really wasn’t fair for me to drag you into this, and –“ 

“Tony, I said it’s fine!” Steve snaps. “Stop apologizing, I get it.”

Tony recoils a little. “Alright there, Cap?” 

Steve grits down on his teeth, not wanting to say anything. But he can’t help the anger and frustration bubbling on the surface, and really no one is actually paying them that much attention, so he lets himself go. 

“Oh yeah, sure I’m alright. I love having to reassure you that it’s fine, that I know the idea of actually being with me is so repulsive it makes you wince, but it’s ok anyway. I love watching you fake being happy with me and switching to this dejected, broken person the moment any cameras are away. You know, it’s absolutely great!” He doesn’t know when Tony’s face got so close to his, but that’s when he realizes he’d been leaning in, getting closer and closer and hissing his words with frustration the longer he went on.

“And what’s even better? The fact that the only reason this started at all is because a magically-induced drunk you had some weird fascination with my face. Not because you care about me at all, but just because some spell decided to make me look pretty to you. Never mind the fact that I’ve been dreaming about kissing you for months, that all I wanted to do was take you on an actual date, but that was a nice thing to shut down once I saw your horrified face the day after you kissed me. And what’s more— mmph!” 

Steve has to stop, because suddenly he’s still talking but there’s a something in the way of his mouth. Specifically, Tony’s mouth. Tony’s kissing him, over and over, just little soft kisses he presses to Steve’s lips. 

“You,” he breathes, presses another kiss in, “are an absolute idiot.”

“I’m… excuse me?” 

Tony reels back a little bit, enough to really look Steve in the eyes. He brings a hand up to cup the side of Steve’s face.

“Steven Rogers, I may have only told you that your face was beautiful because some magician spelled me, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been thinking it every day for the past who knows how long. God, when I first met you were so annoying with your righteousness and patriotism and inability to take a joke.”

“Thanks, Tony,” Steve says drily, but his lips are beginning to curve upwards and there’s a warmth spreading in his chest that has nothing to do with the small amount of alcohol he’s consumed. 

Tony frowns, face serious. “I’m not done. But then, as it turns out, you are a spectacular leader and an even better card player and you can have fun. And then you were in the tower and somehow when I couldn’t make the pieces of my life function together you seemed to smooth it all out. You made all of us come together in ways no one thought was possible, and you did it just by being this—“ Tony stops, breathes loudly. He doesn’t seem to be able to finish his sentence, but whatever it is he was going to call Steve, it makes him do that soft smile that Steve absolutely melts for. When he speaks again, his voice is soft, breath brushing against Steve’s lips. 

“And then you were in my lab all the time, watching me work or just sketching, and somehow you just fit yourself right into a niche I didn’t know I had left open. So when I called your face beautiful, that wasn’t a new thought. And the only unusual thing about me kissing you is honestly that I hadn’t done it sooner.” 

Steve can’t think of a reply to that, so instead he closes the miniscule space between them and kisses Tony for all he’s worth. This time, it’s nothing like it was in the burger joint. There’s none of the sloppiness, or the sense of urgency that was present before. It’s just Tony’s soft, pliant mouth against his, it’s the warmth of Tony’s hip beneath Steve’s hand when he reaches out to grab him and pull him closer, it’s the sigh Tony lets out when Steve tilts his head a little, parting his lips. 

Tony draws back before the kiss can go much further, a half smile on his face. His eyes are soft and shining, and he’s looking at Steve like he’s the best goddamn thing in the world. Steve’s pretty sure his face looks the same. 

“What do you say we ditch this thing and go enjoy ourselves? I happen to know there is an excellent private bathroom in a nearby hallway.”

“Now really, you’re going to try to get in my pants before you’ve even taken me out to dinner?” Steve tries to give Tony a reprimanding look and fails, a goofy grin on his face. 

Tony waves a hand towards the general area. “I rented a ballroom for you.”

“Technically, Pepper did.”

“My money, same thing,” he shrugs. 

Steve hesitates for half a moment before threading his fingers through Tony’s. “Well then let’s go.” 

Tony’s grin is absolutely wicked as he tugs on Steve insistently, rushing them out of the room before anyone can stop them.

When they’re in the bathroom and Tony is tugging on his tie, drawing Steve impossibly closer, Steve stops a moment before his lips meet Tony’s. 

“You’re still going to owe me dinner you know.” 

“Steve, I’ll buy you all the restaurants in Brooklyn if you just take your shirt of right now.” 

Steve laughs but complies, shedding his suit jacket and shirt quickly. When Tony goes to do the same Steve stops him, wanting to do it himself. Where he was rushed, he takes his time, slowly sliding Tony’s arms out of the sleeves, dropping it to the floor. He unbuttons his shirt slowly, fingers gently grazing over the arc reactor. When Tony notices his stare lingering, he begins to shift. 

“What?”

“Nothing,” Steve says, voice soft and full of awe. “You’re just… beautiful.”

**Author's Note:**

> Ahhh so this is my first time ever publishing fanfic! It's for shinkonokokoro as part of the SteveTonyFest. I know there's a lot to be improved but hey, considering I wrote this during the end of classes/finals week, it's not awful. 
> 
> Also a huge thank you to Kaz (star-spangled-raccoon.tumblr.com) for beta-ing the first half of this fic. You're amazing.


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